Leonie Baldacchino, a University lecturer and researcher, recently won the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) Buzz Builder Award for best use of social media channels to promote the Maltese GEW campaign.
The award was presented to Ms Baldacchino by GEW president Jonathan Ortmans at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress held recently in Liverpool, UK.
Despite Malta being one of the smallest countries to take part in GEW, a blog entry posted by Ms Baldacchino on the GEW website ( http://unleashingideas.org/blog/big-buzz-small-island-malta-marks-gew-2011 ) to highlight the Maltese campaign was viewed, tweeted, shared and ‘liked’ on various social media channels more frequently than any entry by any other country.
GEW is an international initiative designed to inspire and connect aspiring entrepreneurs, helping them to embrace originality, imagination and ingenuity through local and global activities. Millions of enterprising individuals participate in thousands of activities in over 100 countries every year.
Since GEW’s inception in 2008, the University’s Edward de Bono Institute has been the official national host for this initiative in Malta, and has coordinated a growing number of events for an increasing number of participants.
The Global Entrepreneurship Congress boasted an array of high-profile entrepreneurs, including Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin Group, and Deborah Leary, president of the British Association of Women Entrepreneurs, who shared insights and experiences from their entrepreneurial journeys with the 3,000-strong audience at the Liverpool Echo Arena on the first day of the event.
On the second and third day of the congress, Ms Baldacchino joined GEW hosts from 123 countries to celebrate best practice in promoting entrepreneurship and to share ideas for advancing the GEW campaign in 2012 and beyond.
Preparations are now underway to plan for this year’s GEW from November 12 to 18. The Edward de Bono Institute is inviting interested parties to join the Maltese GEW campaign, either as official partners or as individual participants.
For more information about how to get involved, visit the GEW 2012 page on the Edward de Bono Institute website www.um.edu.mt/create/conferencesseminars/global_entrepreneurship_week_2012.